UMVC3 Phoenix Wright 'rant'

Hello, folks. A while back, I made a rant regarding Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. Unlike many other rants, I wasn't bashing the game like an idiot. Rather, I was ranting about about the people bashing and nitpicking about the game. Mind you, I didn't attack anybody in particular, nor did I give anybody away in that rant (unless you count mentioning BLACKbustercrybaby in the description), but the people who were ranting on Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 are rather... famous.

Now, as a part of the rant, I covered the people who bitched and moaned about the characters, more specifically Hawkeye, Rocket Raccoon, and Phoenix Wright.

Well, this rant is going to specifically cover the complaints and hatred against a character that has been pushed to be included in this game since the original Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. That character is Phoenix Wright of Ace Attorney fame.

Let's start off with a little history. Now, this isn't the first time that Phoenix Wright was considered for a fighting game. Back when Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars was announced for an american release, many people speculated that Phoenix Wright and Franziska von Karma, along with Frank West and Zero, would be added to the roster. Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found when the game came overseas. Capcom's reason for not including Wright in Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars was his OBJECTION! speech bubble.

Apparently, Phoenix Wright's speech bubble would change size with different language regions. Basically, the japanese version of the game would have his speech bubble contain four kanji, while the american version would have ten letters. This would cause balancing issues, and Capcom decided to drop Phoenix Wright entirely. As for Franziska, Capcom simply said that they wanted to include her WITH Phoenix Wright, the main character.

Then, as Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 was announced, fans of Ace Attorney would hope that Phoenix Wright would make his fighting debut. Unfortunately, Wright was left out yet again. However, not all hope was lost. Capcom said that if the game sold well, they would release Phoenix Wright as DLC, along with other characters that were on Capcom's list of DLC characters for Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.

Then, Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 was announced, introducing four new characters that would be included, along with new game modes, balancing tweaks, and more. Soon after, a leak was made on the official site, revealing eight characters that were going to be revealed. And among them, it was found that Phoenix Wright would finally make his debut in the arena.

As for the reaction, many people were happy that the lawyer in blue would finally get a chance to clash with the likes of Captain America, Spider Man, She-Hulk, and Taskmaster. There were those, however, who completely despise the idea of a lawyer in a fighting game. It's these people that this rant is focused on. Now, what say we quit pissin' around and get this ball rolling?

Strangely, even though there are people who loathe Wright with a passion, so far, I can dig up only two common complaints. So, sorry if this rant isn't as long as you're expecting.

Complaint #1: Wright can't fight

If you ask someone why Phoenix Wright shouldn't be in the game, nine times out of ten, they'll respond with the "Wright can't fight" argument. Of course, anyone with one third of a brain will know that that argument is complete and total horse hockey.

First of all, if you're familiar with the Ace Attorney series, you'll know that Phoenix Wright has been through many situations where normally a person wouldn't survive. He fell down a 40-foot cliff to a swift river (which no one survived, mind you), and returned with merely a common cold. He was hit on the head with a fire extinguisher (which I imagine would be lethal), and simply received temporary amnesia. He once ate a glass and metal necklace laced with poison. And, to top it all off, he was hit by a speeding car, launched quite a distance into the air, thrown head-first into a telephone pole... and walked away with nothing but a sprained ankle.

... Yeah. I think it's very clear that it'll take more than a single punch to knock Wright out for good.

Second of all, in terms of movesets, you'll find that making a moveset for Phoenix Wright is easier than it sounds. Many people, myself included, have made movesets for him, so Capcom can easily make one as well. Besides, there many ideas for moves, such as the OBJECTION shouts, evidence, summoning other characters, and others.

And just so you know I'm not shitting you, I'll link you to a moveset I found in the description. So yeah, making a Phoenix Wright moveset isn't exactly rocket science.

Third, and most importantly... there have been characters in the series that haven't shown any fighting ability, NOT JUST WRIGHT. A good example is Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter. If you own the game on Sega Saturn, you'll know that the game included a character called Norimaro (he wasn't in the american versions of the game), based on a real life comedian whose name escapes me at the moment. Norimaro was basically a nerd who acted like a stero-typical school-boy. He was the star joke character of the game, surpassing even Dan in terms of being a complete... well, joke.

In Marvel Vs. Capcom 1 on the PS1 and Dreamcast, the concept of assisting characters was introduced, where you could summon characters to hop onto the battlefield, attack the opponent, and jump back out. Some of these, such as Saki and Arthur, were characters that haven't shown much fighting ability. Also, let's not forget playable characters Jin and Roll. Jin Saotome was a character introduced in Cyberbots who hasn't shown any fighting ability. When he made his debut in this game, though, he had a fresh moveset made completely from thin air. Then there's Roll, who everyone will recognize as the supporting robot from Mega Man. Unfortunately, she wasn't exactly the best character, but she could still fight.

Then there was Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. Not only are Jin and Roll present, but Tron, who required a robot vehicle, and her Servbot buddies were introduced as playable characters.

Finally, there was Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, which featured Roll in her classic design (this time, she's actually effectve), and Saki, gone from a simple assist to an actual playable character.

ALL THIS is enough to prove that Phoenix Wright can hold his own in a game like Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.

Complaint #2: There are more deserving characters

Alright, I'm gonna counter this argument with one single sentence.

There are no deserving characters in this game.

Capcom has the final say when it comes to the selection of half the characters in this roster. Just because a character gets in doesn't mean that they deserved a spot. It just means that Capcom thought that said character would be a good choice (this is something that the Strider fanboys never seem to realize). If Phoenix Wright doesn't deserve a character, then that would technically mean that not a single character in this game would deserve a spot.

Granted, there are some exceptions that should be added in because they're practically Capcom's mascots, such as Ryu and Morrigan (Mega Man isn't one of them), but that's about it.

As far as Marvel characters go, Marvel Comics has the final say about which characters come and go. This means that if your favorite Marvel character isn't in, Capcom wasn't allowed to put them in. It also explains why we got characters like Nova, Iron Fist, and Rocket Raccoon instead of characters like Venom, Gambit, and Cyclops.

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Well, that's about all I have for now. In conclusion, it's stupid to complain about Phoenix Wright and claim that he's a waste of space. If the inclusion of a lawyer pisses you off that much...

*puts on glasses*

...just deal with it.